News

A new report prepared by a Portland State University Sociology professor and his students examines attitudes and actions among the residents of Northeast Portland’s Alberta neighborhood—one of the most racially diverse in the city, and one of the most rapidly changing over the past 15 years.

Census data shows that the demographics of the Alberta neighborhood, bounded by Northeast 15th and 33rd Avenues to the west and east and Northeast Killingsworth and Prescott to the north and south, shifted dramatically between 1990 and 2000. Some of the more notable changes can be seen in the following table:

The Portland State study found that a majority of Alberta-area residents rate their neighborhood favorably and believe that it has gotten better over the last five years; the majority also feel that it will continue to improve in the future. However, there are meaningful differences in opinion among residents. Those who have characteristics associated with gentrification—homeowners, whites and those with a college degree—are more favorable in their opinions. The study found little difference in opinion based on length of residence in the neighborhood.

Residents believe that lack of affordable housing is the biggest neighborhood problem, followed by poor quality schools and drug dealing. Analysis of survey responses found that the more education a person has—particularly post-baccalaureate and above—the more neighborhood problems that person perceived. In addition, residents of Alberta for 5–10 years tended to identify the most problems, while newcomers (less than a year) and old-timers (20 years or longer) identified the fewest.

Fifty-nine percent of residents feel that lack of affordable housing in the neighborhood is a problem. Twenty-five percent are concerned that they will not be able to afford to stay in their current location. Due to rising rents in the neighborhood, it is no surprise that more renters expressed concern than homeowners. But Daniel Sullivan, the report’s author and an assistant professor of Sociology at Portland State, does find it surprising that 17 percent of homeowners also expressed concern about the lack of affordable housing. “Lack of affordable housing is viewed clearly as the biggest neighborhood problem by both those who are concerned and unconcerned about being displaced themselves,” said Sullivan.

Homeowners differed from renters in other respects: they were more likely to interact with neighbors, send children to private or non-local schools (as were whites and more-educated residents), and participate in neighborhood organizations.

Perhaps the most visible change in the Alberta neighborhood has been the increase in businesses located on or near Northeast Alberta, including two grocery stores: New Seasons Market and the Alberta Co-op Grocery. The Portland State survey finds that many respondents shop at these stores, but those most closely associated with gentrification—whites, college-educated homeowners—shop there more often.

In recent years, the monthly “Last Thursday” art festival has become a major draw for visitors to the neighborhood, as well as for its residents. The survey found that 60 percent of respondents had attended at least once in the past year. Though whites and those with college degrees were more likely to go, nearly half of minority residents also attended Last Thursday; residents of the neighborhood for at least ten years were the least likely to attend.

Methodology and distribution of the report:
In May 2004, 11 students from Portland State University’s Sociology master’s program interviewed 243 randomly chosen residents of the Alberta neighborhood. Interviewers attempted to contact selected residents on numerous occasions, both homeowners and renters, in order to insure a representative sample of the neighborhood. The response rate was 76 percent. Copies of this report have been distributed to interested participants and two neighborhood associations and can be obtained online, http://www.sociology.pdx.edu/sullivan.htm. Copies of the report are also available electronically as an Adobe PDF document at http://www.pdx.edu/media/a/l/Alberta_Survey_1104.pdf.

Members of the media interested in speaking with Daniel Sullivan, the report’s primary author, can reach him at 503-725-3954, or at dsulliva@pdx.edu.

Source:
Daniel Sullivan (503-725-3954 or dsulliva@pdx.edu)
PSU Department of Sociology

For Immediate Release (#05-083)